A familiar problem for golfers is finding their golf ball once struck. A typical golf swing can result in hitting the golf ball over distances between several feet and several hundreds of yards. Ideally, the golfer can visually track the location of the ball once struck and thus easily find the golf ball. However, any number of a variety of environmental conditions may make it difficult to find the location of the golf ball. For example, the golfer may be playing in rain or fog conditions that make it very difficult to find the ball. Even on a bright sunlit day, the golfer may simply lose the ability to track the ball because of sun glare. Moreover, the golf ball may land in an environment (e.g., a wooded region, long grass, brush, bushes, etc.) that occludes a view to the ball. Beyond the embarrassment of losing the golf ball and any imposed penalties in the game itself, golf players suffer a loss of time and broken concentration from trying to locate the golf ball.
Various efforts have been proposed to facilitate locating golf balls. For example, GB1172449 teaches placing radioactive material inside a golf ball, and using a handheld Geiger counter to locate the ball. Since the amount of radioactive material that can be placed in the golf ball is limited due to human health and safety considerations, the radioactive detection method has a very limited detection range.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,132,622 to Valentino describes a golf ball with a metal center, where the golf ball can be found by scanning a metal detector over an area. The metal detector method also has limited range and is susceptible to false positive readings from extraneous metal materials located in the vicinity of the golf ball.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,140,972 to Redwine et al. describes a golf ball with an outer translucent later and an inner core that includes a luminescent liquid such as Cyalume, which can be activated by the impact of the golf club. Once activated, the golf ball may be more visible in low-light conditions due to the luminescent glow from the chemicals. However, in bright light conditions the luminescence is of no benefit.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,803,575 to McLaughlin describes treating an ordinary golf ball with an emulsion that deposits a hologram in the dimples. When illuminated by a laser beam at the proper pre-selected wavelength, the golf ball will reflects the laser beam. A hand held analyzer illuminates and detects the golf ball based on the reflected light at the specified wavelength. The hand held unit must be carefully aimed or detection is not possible.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,782,730 to Horchler describes a magnetically actuated switch, a radio oscillator circuit, and a battery located at the core of the golf ball. The radio oscillator is tuned on and off by the magnetically actuated switch. The radio signal from the radio oscillator can be monitored by the player to locate the golf ball whenever it is temporarily lost.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,549 to Englmeier, a golf ball is describes that includes a rechargeable battery system and a transmitter that transmits electromagnetic signals. An external voltage source is used to recharge the battery through a wireless transmission. A mobile signal receiving unit is used to receive the transmitted signals from the golf ball to assist the golf player in locating the golf ball.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,112,055 to Barnhill describes a golf ball with a battery powered emitter that is activated by a switch when the golfer strikes the ball during a golf swing. Once active, the emitter provides an audible sound so that the golfer can locate the golf ball.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,531 to Little describes a transducer tag that is located within the golf ball, where the transducer tag includes a tuned capacitance that is activated by radiated energy from an external source. A detectable electronic signal is emitted from the golf ball when exposed to an electronic field at the proper frequency with sufficient energy to activate the transducer tag.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,534 to Kroll et al. describes a radio frequency reflector that is embedded in the golf ball. A monitor transmits a series of pulsed radio frequency beams to the golf ball, and analyzes the reflected radio waves.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,059,974 to Golliffe et al. describes a golf ball with a coded chip such as an RFID tag embedded in a resilient member. The resilient member is arranged to dampen shock to the coded chip, and can also prevent overheating of the coded chip during the manufacturing process.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,207,902 to Hamlin describes a golf ball with a passive transmitter and a pressure sensor, both located in a core region of the ball. The pressure sensor is used to determine golf course conditions surrounding the golf ball such as mud, dirt, water, sand, etc. A hand held unit is used to transmit energy at a selected frequency that can be received by the passive transmitter in the golf ball, which then transmits a response for reception by the hand held unit. Upon reception of the response, the hand held unit can determine distance to the golf ball and process the environmental conditions around the golf ball.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,095,312 to Carter describes a golf ball with a rechargeable power source, a GPS receiver, a GPS antenna, a motion sensor, a detector, a microprocessor, an RF transmitter and an RF antenna, all located within a core region of the golf ball. Prior to use, the rechargeable power source is charged and the GPS receiver attains a fix on a position from a GPS satellite. When the golf ball is placed in an area of use such as on a tee or mat in the tee box, the microprocessor is signaled by the detector to begin receiving and/or transmitting via either the GPS receiver/antenna or the RF transmitter/antenna. Additional positioning information is captured and recorded by the microprocessor while the golf ball is in flight. The motion sensor works with the microprocessor to detect when the golf ball has reached a resting position so that the collected positioning data can be transmitted via the RF transmitter/antenna. The collected data can be analyzed to evaluate flight path attributes such as traveled distance, speed, direction, loft, and trajectory.
While each of the above described golf ball devices may be suitable for the purposes for which they were designed, they may not be suitable in many other applications. The present disclosure contemplates each of the above described golf ball locators and identifies shortcomings in arriving at a novel solution.